New GM Partnership Aims for Cheaper Ethanol by 2011: Live at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show

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Oct 30, 2009

DETROIT — General Motors announced a partnership today with bio-fuel developer Coskata that it hopes will result in the production of cost-effective E85 by 2011.

GM chief Rick Wagoner announced the partnership, saying that GM had taken an undisclosed equity stake in Coskata: "We are very excited about what this breakthrough will mean to the viability of biofuels and, more importantly, to our ability to reduce dependence on petroleum."

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Coskata's process addresses many of the issues associated with grain-based ethanol production, including environmental, transportation and land use concerns (i.e., it takes a lot of energy input to get only a little output).

Using patented microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, Coskata ethanol is produced via a unique three-step conversion process that turns virtually any carbon-based feedstock—including biomass, municipal solid waste, and a variety of agricultural waste—into ethanol, making production a possibility in almost any geography. The technology is ethanol-specific and enzyme independent, requiring no additional chemicals or pre-treatments.

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Simply put, the Coskata process can produce ethanol almost anywhere in the world, using practically any renewable source, including feedstock, garbage, old tires and plant waste. And it can do so for less than a dollar per gallon.

The process also uses less than a gallon of water to make a gallon of ethanol compared with three gallons or more for other processes.

According to Argonne National Laboratory, which analyzed Coskata's process, for every unit of energy used, it generates up to 7.7 times that amount of energy, and it reduces CO2 emissions by up to 84 percent compared with a well-to-wheel analysis of gasoline.

Though the fruits of Coskata's labor will not be realized until at least 2011, the concept is promising and makes the widespread use ethanol more acceptable. —Chuck Tannert